The motorway craters

THE vehicle ahead kept zigzagging in a manner which kept me wondering what might have influenced the driver to indulge in those dangerous antics so early in the morning. Then it came my turn and I realised rather too late that the driver was not joking but only responding to the nature of the road which was putting his driving skills to severe test. Many motorists are familiar with the potholes that dot most of our roads. In the dry season, they stare at you in open defiance, while in the rainy season they become ponds or mini lakes. The Accra-Tema Motorway, one of the legacies of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the Founder of the nation, is of a peculiar design and built. It is perhaps the only road in the country built of concrete and iron rods. Any crack on it, therefore, goes beyond an ordinary pothole and could be best described as a crater. The jugged edges of the craters are obvious, sometimes with exposed rods, and any careless manoeuvring which lands a vehicle in any of the craters could spell doom. Many vehicles have suffered accidents either trying to avoid those craters or landing in them at high speed. The Motorway, which in the past was the pride the nation and about the safest road in the country, has become one of the most dangerous, recording accidents on a daily basis. Efforts to seal these craters bear very little fruit, as the materials used are not compatible with the hard concrete. Using bitumen to seal those craters does not offer the necessary result. The Motorway is like a worn-out floor carpet which does not make driving a pleasant experience. Apart from that, there are no inner and outer markings to guide motorists, especially in the night, so it is not strange that every now and then serious accidents occur, with loss of human lives. The Motorway aside, it is time we seriously considered giving some of the roads in the national capital a facelift. The road from La which runs through the capital to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle is not something some of us feel proud about. The same could be said of the road from the Castle Junction through the Beach Road, along which could be found the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, the Labadi Beach Hotel, the First Infantry Brigade Headquarters, the Military Academy and Training School (MATS), the Armed Forces Command and Staff College and the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping and Training Centre. Work on the stretch between Teshie and MATS is too slow for comfort. These are very important national institutions that must not be left enveloped in dust or splashed in mud. The report we had last week about the portion of the road between Nsawam and Suhum on the Accra-Kumasi highway was not a pleasant one. The road linking Accra, the national capital, to Kumasi, our second largest city, should be given every priority it deserves. As it is, we may have to take the advice of a Burkinabe truck driver who got caught in the heavy traffic jam on the above stretch last Friday which obstructed movement for hours. Suleiman Iddrisu, 38, who spent hours in the jam, remarked, “If we are serious as a country at boosting economic activities and business, the government needs to give priority to the early execution of this important road.” fokofi@yahoo.co.uk kofiakordor.blogspot.com